Last year, Ohio’s award-winning Kokoborrego Cheese Co. celebrated 10 years in business. But it was a muted celebration. The past two years have dealt the Sippel Family Farm and its sister cheese business devastating blows: first a pandemic, then the death of one of its founders, then a devastating barn fire. Somehow, they’re still pushing through. Owner Lisa Sippel sums up her feelings about the milestone this way: “We’re still here. When we bought the farm, people said we were too young. When we tried new things, they doubted us. But at 10 years, we’re still here.”
When Ben and Lisa Sippel and Lisa’s brother, Ben Baldwin, launched Kokoborrego Cheese Co. in 2011, they aimed to better diversify their farm and CSA offerings. Based in Mount Gilead, Ohio (“in the middle of nowhere,” Lisa calls it), Sippel Family Farm was the first Ohio farm to make sheep’s milk cheese. The farm, which started out selling primarily farmers market produce and CSA shares, launched its cheese venture to provide a shelf-stable product they could sell year-round. Due to the aging requirement for raw milk cheeses, it took six months for the Sippels to see a profit. Now, Kokoborrego makes more than 10,000 pounds of cheese a year, selling its line of six cows’ and sheep’s milk cheeses in local farmers markets, Midwestern specialty retailers and through distributors like Chef 2 Chef and Yellowbird Foodshed.
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